Firefly to suspend Singapore flights on airport move issues

Malaysian carrier Firefly will suspend all flights to Singapore from 1 December, over issues related to its move from the city state's Changi airport to Seletar airport.

In a notice on its website, Firefly says it has had to suspend the flights "until the relevant authorities have cleared remaining matters in relation to the Singapore authority's plans to move turboprop operations from Changi to Seletar".

"Firefly has not been provided any definitive timeline by the authorities for the delay. Upon final approval from the authorities, Firefly will then resume its flights into Singapore".

The airline's announcement comes just days after Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced the commencement of operations at Seletar airport, which is dedicated to turboprop and business aviation.

It had also said that all scheduled turboprop flights into Singapore will move from Changi to Seletar from 1 December.

Neither Firefly nor CAG has replied to FlightGlobal's query on the delay, and what exactly are the issues involved.

In an October 2017 interview with FlightGlobal, however, Firefly's chief executive Ignatius Ong indicated that the lack of instrument landing system (ILS) facilities at Seletar, which are required by the ATRs, is a major obstacle. He added that the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore is looking to install the ILS, and that the timeline for Firefly's move to Seletar may change.